Pamela Ofstein is the Director of Nutrition Services at eDiets.com, a leading provider of weight loss services, information and products.

I wish I could say there is a flawless remedy for the common cold or flu, but really there isn’t one to date. Avoiding getting sick is the first line of attack. First, keep washing those hands; second, incorporate a healthy lifestyle (eating, exercising, sleeping, etc.); and lastly, avoid all those friends and family you know who are sick!

Here are a few things to eat to help you stay healthy, fight off infections, and boost your immune system (notice the abundance of antioxidants):

• Fruits and veggies (dark green, red, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables)

• Foods with B-6 (lean meats, fish, nuts, seeds)

• Vitamin E-rich foods (nuts, mango, blueberries, papaya, pumpkin)

• Omega-3 fatty acids (salmon)

• Garlic (go for the raw garlic)

• Yogurt (I know it’s usually recommended to avoid dairy, but studies show that it can help reduce susceptibility to colds)
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Josie Maurer, creator of YumYucky.com, spreads the message of finding balance between fitness and your greedy side. She lost over 40 pounds after the birth of her fourth child through sensible eating and exercise, yet she still maintains her love for large slices of cake.

You’re sneezing and throat-hacking. You may cough up a lung. Your head feels 10,000 pounds heavy and your nostrils are host to a faucet of liquid boogers. Cold and flu season is approaching. Are you ready to do battle?

Germs are pretty sneaky. Today’s innocent sneezing fit could very well morph into a barrage of “I can’t go to work” cold symptoms by the time tomorrow comes. But there’s a way to put those symptoms in a headlock and quite possibly bounce back faster. There are 5 natural remedies you can wield against a cold.
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October is here, and it brought the cold and flu season with it. There’s a lot of little things you can do to protect yourself from these pesky and sometimes dangerous viruses. There are many tips for staying healthy during these winter months, like wash your hands, disinfect shopping cart handles, get a flu shot, and lose weight.

I did, in fact, say you should lose weight in order to reduce your risks of contracting the cold or flu this year. I really wasn’t surprised when I read about this. Obesity causes and exacerbates so many ailments including heart disease, periodontal disease and diabetes by impeding our immune systems. Past research has clearly linked obesity and the inability to fight off the cold and flu virus.
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Like it or not, cold and flu season is straight ahead and coming fast. Along with the great things about fall/winter – cooler weather, crisp breezes, fall colors, great holidays – often comes runny noses, fevers, coughing and sore throats.

Odds are good that everyone is going to get at least one illness between now and the spring, but there are things you can do to avoid getting sick. Here are some tried and true tricks, as well as a few that are not proven but anecdotal.

What would you add to this list?

• It sounds remedial, but as much as you can, avoid others who are ill. That sounds like a no-brainer – no one really wants to be around those who are sick, but the reality is, people come to work every day ill. Stay at least 3 feet away from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

• By the same token, if you are ill, stay home. As important as you are in your job, no one is indispensable and you won’t perform at an adequate level anyway. So stay home and…

• REST. As much as you can, rest. This applies to you when you are healthy, as well. Sleep is your body’s way of repairing itself, and if you don’t allow your body to relax and rejuvenate,  you will burn out and then your body has no defenses to fight off germs.
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This is a guest post by Roxane Dover of Silicon Valley, California. Rox chronicles her family’s antics, her fitness journey, and a whole lot of other fun stuff on her blog, Rox and Roll.

There’s nothing like getting really sick to make one appreciate healthy living. For me, my wake-up call came in the form of H1N1, which became pneumonia, which became a year of grappling with incapacitating lung issues, some of which will never abate. When I asked my doctor what to do to prevent matters from worsening, he insisted that a strengthening, rigorous exercise program was as important as the mounds of medication I now take. I was no stranger to fitness before getting sick, having played tennis avidly and attended gym classes regularly, but the year off, while necessary, had taken its toll – and the end-game had changed.
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